HOW HARD IS IT TO KILL, AS A HUNTER ON A KANGAROO CULL, AS A WORKER IN AN ABBATOIR, AS AN EXECUTIONER IN A PRISON, AS A SOLDIER AT WAR? Ninety years after World War I, police in a Victorian country town uncover the mummified head of a Turkish soldier, a bullet-ridden souvenir brought home from Gallipoli by a returning ANZAC. The macabre discovery sets Jeff Sparrow on a quest to understand the nature of deadly violence. How do ordinary people—whether in today's wars or in 1915—learn to take a human life? How do they live with the aftermath?These questions lead Sparrow through history and across Australia and the USA, talking to veterans and slaughtermen, executioners and writers about one of the last remaining taboos.Compassionate, engaged and political, Killing takes us up close to the ways society kills today, meditating on what violence means, not just for perpetrators but for all of us.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
`I needed to understand killing to appreciate the head and that meant trying something very different.'
December 21, 2009
Format:Paperback
Ninety years after World War I, policy in a country town in Victoria, Australia, received the mummified head of a Turkish soldier. A bullet-ridden souvenir brought home from Gallipoli by a returning ANZAC. When Jeff Sparrow became aware of this, he starts on a quest to try to understand the nature of deadly violence.
`How hard is it to kill, as a hunter on a kangaroo cull, as a worker in an abattoir, as an executioner in a prison, as a soldier at war?'
In wondering why a soldier would bring such a trophy home, Mr Sparrow was led to consider the following questions. How do ordinary people -in any war - learn to take a human life? How do they live with the aftermath? Trying to find answers to these questions led Mr Sparrow through history and across both Australia and the USA. He spoke with kangaroo shooters, slaughtermen, writers, executioners and veterans.
What does violence mean: for the perpetrators, for individuals and societies? What is the consequence of changes to the way in which warfare is waged? Has the move from a one on one encounter (as so much of warfare has been in earlier centuries) changed perceptions? Now that it is easier (physically) to kill individuals, is it easier (psychologically) for individuals to kill?
`What was the vocabulary to express that? How to remember men dying as sheep, killing like slaughtermen? That was the Gallipoli head: mutely eloquent, a trophy of no-one, an icon of nothing. What could you say about a souvenir like that? What could it possibly mean? Finally I thought I understood. It meant everything. It didn't mean a thing.'
And what happened to the head of the Turkish soldier? The head of the man killed at Gallipoli in 1915 was interred on 18 March 2003 - just two days after the Coalition of the Willing invaded Iraq.
I did not find this a comfortable book to read, but I am glad I read it and I am still thinking about what it means to me.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
`How hard is it to kill, as a hunter on a kangaroo cull, as a worker in an abattoir, as an executioner in a prison, as a soldier at war?'
In wondering why a soldier would bring such a trophy home, Mr Sparrow was led to consider the following questions. How do ordinary people -in any war - learn to take a human life? How do they live with the aftermath? Trying to find answers to these questions led Mr Sparrow through history and across both Australia and the USA. He spoke with kangaroo shooters, slaughtermen, writers, executioners and veterans.
What does violence mean: for the perpetrators, for individuals and societies? What is the consequence of changes to the way in which warfare is waged? Has the move from a one on one encounter (as so much of warfare has been in earlier centuries) changed perceptions? Now that it is easier (physically) to kill individuals, is it easier (psychologically) for individuals to kill?
`What was the vocabulary to express that? How to remember men dying as sheep, killing like slaughtermen? That was the Gallipoli head: mutely eloquent, a trophy of no-one, an icon of nothing. What could you say about a souvenir like that? What could it possibly mean? Finally I thought I understood. It meant everything. It didn't mean a thing.'
And what happened to the head of the Turkish soldier? The head of the man killed at Gallipoli in 1915 was interred on 18 March 2003 - just two days after the Coalition of the Willing invaded Iraq.
I did not find this a comfortable book to read, but I am glad I read it and I am still thinking about what it means to me.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I read Jeff Sparrow's book because I've always been obsessed with whether people can become brutal and murderous and still feel love for family and friends. I've always obsessed over how people can kill someone, often in cold blood, and still retain a semblance of sanity. Sparrow's book is not for the squeamish. It is, in many respects, a very personal search. After finishing the book, I was left with a very chilling thought. Otherwise decent people can be made to kill repeatedly. Some may feel guilty afterwards and some may feel proud. But the end result is the same. Many lives are needlessly destroyed or lost. Sparrow helps explain how this process takes place. It is well researched and extremely well written. I particularly found reading it on Kindle worthwhile because, as a history book, I could look up the many references made about Sassoon, Owen, etc. (By the way, I read this book using the Kindle app on my Android phone.)
